Handelsblatt

Rainer Seele, chairman of Austrian oil and gas company OMV, has criticised the US ambassador to Germany’s letter to contractors of Russian-German gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 as a “completely unacceptable threat against German companies”, Hans-Peter Siebenhaar reports for Handelsblatt. Ambassador Richard Grenell warned Uniper and Wintershall of possible sanctions if they continue work on the pipeline project to connect Russia directly to Germany. “Europe must not let itself be patronised in energy policy issues by the US. It is the sovereign right of Germany and Europe to take care of our own energy policy so that security of supply and competition are provided to our satisfaction,” he told the paper. OMV, which is partly owned by the Austrian state, is one of four European companies (along with Wintershall, Shell and Engie) building the new gas pipeline through the Baltic Sea for Russia’s Gazprom.